ACT ONE:

The setup: The first 15 minutes/page are where you set up your story. Tell the audience the basic facts. Who are your main characters? Where and when does the story take place? What genre or style of movie is it? Your main character must be introduced by page 15 and generally the antagonist and love interest appear by then as well.

The Catalyst: This is the initiating event. In the first 15 minutes something happens that sets the story in motion. A problem presents itself. It could come in the form of action or dialogue. For example, a car accident happens to the main character or the main characters gets a letter or a phone call with terrible news. What ever it takes, the catalyst will pull your character into the story. It demands an action or reaction.

The Central Question: This question must be asked in Act one. This is a story question, not a thematic one. It is usually simple and is always answered by the climax. For example, "Will the comet destroy the earth?" "Will the boy win the girl." "Will the aliens destroy us, or would we destroy them." Whatever the question is, you need to lay it out no later than page 30.

The First Turning Point: This one signals the end of Act One, and it should come between page 25 and 35. The purpose of this turning point is to accomplish the following:

1. Turn the story in a new direction.
2. Set up what Act Two is going to be.
3. Raise the stakes.
4. Re-ask the central question with possibly a different outcome.

ACT TWO:

Act two is the main part of the story, where you can include developing relationships, plot thickening, thematic ideas and subplots. It builds to (and ends with) the Second Turning Point, somewhere between pages 65 and 90. Like the first turning point, this one needs to accomplish several things.

1. Turn the direction of the story again.
2. Raise the stakes again.
3. Start a ticking clock, if possible, launching us towards the climax with heightened energy.
4. Ask the central question again.

The second turning point could be in other words, the darkest hour before dawn, when things look hopeless for your main characters.

ACT THREE:

This should be no more than 30 pages, and head directly for The Climax. In action/adventure movies this is the final physical battle or gunfight. In a love story it could be as simple as the two lovers finally getting together, or as painful as Romeo and Juliet dying.

After the climax comes The Conclusion. Audiences have become accustomed to movies ending within five minutes after the climax. If a movie takes longer to wrap up loose ends, they tend to lose interest. So wrap it up quickly and fade out no later than page 135.